Monthly Archives: November 2011

Time has slipped away from me. A month ago I thought this day would never come. But here it is and I am so nervous. What is so special about today you ask? It is the day I leave for my first MD/PhD interview (aka my post-undergrad schooling) at Penn State. By Sunday, I will be meeting other student, being interviewed by professors, doctors, and science researchers alike. Although I am a bit a lot nervous, I am also excited to get off campus/out of the extremely small town where my school. I literally haven’t been over 10 miles away from the campus in almost three months. So…. getting a bit claustrophobic.

As good luck for my interview, I decided to feature my “doctor” song that I used to play right before physics exams to remind me why I wanted to be a doctor: “Teardrop” by Massive Attack and the theme to the TV series House.

Elizabeth Fraser’s voice in this video is amazing. It has the ereathral, utterly beautiful but powerful quality that I have never heard duplicated. She has also done four other songs with Massive Attack and all are some of my favorite songs from the group.

Fun fact: Madonna was suppose to sing for “Teardrop” but Robert Del Naja and Grantley Marshall both wanted Fraser. Another fun fact (aren’t you luck, two today!): Fraser is also a member of the The Cocteau Twins and has sung songs for The Lord of the Rings Soundtrack. I’m falling in love with her even more!

Ugg, now all I want to do is watch The Lord of the Rings trilogy all over again. Maybe over winter break with my brother. We have already done The Matrix and Harry Potter. Why not a The Lord of the Rings marathon?

I have realized that I have not posted a Marylin Manson song here for awhile. This is a big problem. Especially when I need some heavy, hard-core shock rock to get lost in…or at least to escape the world of papers, tests, and stress.

Almost as big as my to do pile, just a little too short

Yes, I am a Marylin fan. I know he is pretty controversial, perhaps not so much now since he has kind-of dropped off the mainstream music scene. But his songs are raw, real, and full of meaning, something I think is missing from today’s music. I talked about my feelings about Marylin and his band in an earlier post. You should check it out!

My favorite album of his is actually his greatest hits album, since some of his songs can get just plain loud and not really full of good lyrics and meaning. Thus, his Lest We Forget album gives me all the favorites and none of the bad ones. “The Dope Show” is one of the songs that is just the right amount of anarchy, catchy but powerful lyrics, and a rhythm that just pounds into you.

The music video is pretty weird, but that is expected of MM. It also really embodies the message of the song, at least how I interpret it. Basically, it is speaking about how an anomaly, a freak of nature can catch the public’s attention (for good or bad) for a only a short amount of time until the next scandalous event or person comes along. As seen in the video, Marylin plays a character that is seen as odd by the public—somewhat male and somewhat female. He is shown off, making his “owners” rich when he makes it onto the front of magazines and appears in front of crowds. Even though the public seems infatuated by him and wants to know everything about him, the media only portrays the glamorous parts of his life, not how Marylin’s character is mistreated. This is demonstrating how subjective the media is, not only when it discusses people but also when it discusses events.

The album cover of Mechanical Animals

“The Dope Show” is originally from the album Mechanical Animals, which is one of three concept album MM produced. I might have to feature a post on MM overarching themes in his music since it is pure genius in some ways.

And here is the same question from the last Marylin Manson post. Love him or hate him?